Joint letter in response to Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

If introduced, this hardship penalty will hurt millions of families across the country. Families already struggling to pay for food, fuel, rent and other basics, will see their budgets further squeezed.

Many thousands have turned to food banks for help. Nearly half of teachers say they often see children going hungry. And shockingly, six million households are struggling to afford to heat their homes.

As the cost of fuel, food and housing rise again, we can expect to see these problems become even more severe and widespread.

This hardship penalty is not an isolated cut. It comes on top of a raft of cuts being introduced this year. This includes freezes to child benefit and working tax credit, and cuts to housing benefit and council tax benefit. These changes will hurt both working and non-working households.

As a result of the one per cent cap, a single-parent primary school teacher or a nurse with two children stands to lose £424 a year by 2015. An army second lieutenant with three children could lose £552 a year. If they are in private rented housing, or if prices rise faster than expected, the loss is likely to be even greater.

The government must make sure that increases in benefit rates at the very least reflect rises in cost of living. Otherwise this toll on Britain’s parents, workers, people seeking work, on our sick and disabled people, our homeless, and on our children, will deepen inequality and increase poverty. Not acceptable by anybody's standards.